SCOTTISH government statistics released in June showed that 10.5 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds in Scotland are unemployed. A further 17.2 per cent are economically inactive.

Excluding those who are in full time education, this adds to a total of 27.7 per cent or 94,000 young people unemployed, not seeking work or unable to start work.

Despite apparent efforts by the Scottish government, the drive to reduce youth unemployment has stalled in recent years.

Communists argue that a key demand of the Scottish left should be a concerted effort on the part of the government to eliminate this stain on our society.

Central to this effort should be the creation of thousands of apprenticeships and investment in vocational education with a definite career path and guaranteed employment.

The current political situation is an opportune moment to press the SNP administration to implement these policies.

The Scottish government has the money. A few weeks ago it was revealed that the government had underspent its 2017/18 budget by £453 million.

This is criminal in the context of widespread poverty and cuts to public services in Scotland.

For too long the SNP government’s tactic has been to pass on Tory austerity in order to build support for independence.

This money could create tens of thousands of new apprenticeships and could also be used to reverse the cuts to college numbers which have declined by almost 38 per cent, over 143,000 places, since the SNP came to power in 2007.

Guaranteeing a people’s Brexit and a total break with the single market will be essential if we are to create an apprenticeship system on the scale required.

EU rules on state aid for industry, public ownership and public procurement would prevent the Scottish government from taking the steps required to make such a system a reality.

Withdrawal from the EU offers new opportunities for radical economic change in Scotland.

In the first instance a programme of nationalisation of public services would create the basis for tens of thousands of apprenticeships the length and breadth of the country, targeting areas with particularly high levels of unemployment.

A programme of investment to rebuild Scotland’s productive economy will also be essential.

The SNP have hinted that ScotRail could be taken back into public hands following the disastrous performance of private firm Abellio.

They must be forced to follow through on this. Not only could a government controlled railway make a profit for the public purse, we could create hundreds of skilled apprenticeships while improving a key public service.

One area in which the Scottish government hasn’t hesitated to spend public money has been in bailing out mismanaged enterprises or handing out lavish cash incentives to private firms.

Ineos at Grangemouth, Liberty Steel in Motherwell, Infratil at Prestwick Airport, the list goes on.

Why hasn’t the SNP government made these deals conditional on investment in jobs and especially apprenticeships? The failure to do so represents an ideological decision by the Scottish government and is shameful in a country with such high levels of unemployment.

For years the SNP has been lining the pockets of bosses in Scotland, protecting the interests of multinational companies and footing the bill for mismanagement, all the while enforcing austerity.

Large and lucrative public procurement contracts should be awarded to government firms to support this programme of nationalisation.

Where public contracts are awarded to private firms these should contain requirements to invest in jobs and provide guaranteed numbers of apprenticeships.

For Scottish trade unionists this could also be an opportunity for a massive revival. Tens of thousands of apprentices working in skilled jobs in public and private sector organisations could be the seed of a new generation of labour movement activists in the face of a declining and ageing movement.

All of this will be impossible however if we cannot force the Scottish government to abandon its pro-austerity stance and spend money which it has readily available.

Equally important will be achieving a people’s Brexit. The radical economic programme outlined above would be impossible under current EU rules.

Regardless of whether you voted for independence or not, to remain or leave the European Union, we must come together and put class politics to the fore once again.

The crisis engulfing the Tory Party offers the chance to remove this anti-worker government and achieve an exit from the EU which will enable the implementation of a radical left-wing programme. 

We must fight to end the suffering of Scottish workers languishing under austerity. We must fight to create a future for the youth of Scotland worth living for.

In the words of UCS Work In legend Jimmy Reid, “the untapped resources of the North Sea are as nothing compared to the untapped resources of our people.

“I am convinced that the great mass of our people go through life without even a glimmer of what they could have contributed to their fellow human beings.

“This is a personal tragedy. It’s a social crime. The flowering of each individual’s personality and talents is the pre-condition for everyone’s development.”

Johnnie Hunter is Scottish organiser for the Young Communist League.